Life at the Institute
by Flippers McDickenson
Summary: When a Kaplan warrior shows up at the doors of the Institute of War, sill he give up hope, or persevere.


As I stepped off the cobble road and faced the gigantic wooden doors, I inhaled deeply as I knew my journey was over. I was there. I walked up to the gate, which had various scratch marks and cracks, and gave it a good shove. I made sure my claws didn't deepen the gashes in the wood. I was met with assorted types of welcome from many different types of people.

"Ooh, a new person. Welcome! I hope not to blow you up too often." A small fuzzy creature called a yordle buzzed.

"Ohh! Ooh! Kitty!" A small girl roughly up to the size of my hips cooed at the sight of my fur and whiskers. "I'll go get Mister Rengar!" She dashed off in the direction I was heading.  
I eventually got very irritated and spoke aloud.

"Where's the summoner chamber?" I yelled over everyone, my Kaplar accent leaking out a bit. Everyone quieted down when they realized my intent. I was a new champion. Or at least I was going to try. The smallest yordle I've ever seen with a pith hat and goggles slowly marched up to me, only barely reaching my shins.

"The summoner chamber is in that direction," He said, his stubby arms pointing in the direction of the largest building on the grounds. He then grabbed a leg of my pants and dragged me to the building.

"Kid, stop that!" I yelped. He stopped.

"First off, my name is Teemo, not kid. Second, why are you here? Do you know what kinds of things happen to you on the fields?" Teemo looked rather flustered. I couldn't help but find him kind of adorable.

"Yes, I do. But I'm willing to go through with it. My people can't hold on an longer," I explained to Teemo. "Can you introduce me to the summoners, please? I have a feeling they won't like me very much."

Teemo giggled. "Oh, I think you'd be surprised the kind of things they allow here."

Teemo pushed open the doors, a surprising feat for someone of his stature.

"Oh, who do we have here?" A young woman in a violet robe snuck up behind us and spoke in a soft voice.

"Summoner Beavil, this is… I'm sorry, I don't think I actually caught your name," Teemo said exasperatedly.

"My name is Lakra." The fur on the back of my neck bristled as I realized what I was doing.  
"Well, Lagrha-" She spoke.

"Lakra," I interrupted.

"Lakra, what brings you here today?" She finished her sentence, irritated.

I took a deep breath and readjusted my glasses. "I wish to become a champion." Beavil looked me up and down.

"And what can you do?" She asked unceremoniously. I immediately released my claws. They pulsed with energy from my soul. It made me uncomfortable how she stared at them. "That is a pretty cool thing you can do. Time to test it out." I felt weird as the world around me went black, then white, then colors I've never seen, and then I was on a stone fountain.

"Where the hell am I?" I asked aloud.

"Ooh a new champion. Been a while since the last one." An old yordle was sitting in a shack with various armory.

"Seriously, where am I?" I pestered the yordle.

"You're on the Summoner's Rift, the Institute's personal battleground," The old yordle answered. "Try not to die, okay?"

MINIONS HAVE SPAWNED. A message in my brain was announced when tiny, doll-like creatures began to walk toward three directions.

"You are the last one to spawn, so head down that lane, the bottom lane. There you will find your laning partner." The old yordle continued.

"Wait, what-" I got cut off.

"Just GO." The yordle ordered.

I jogged off in the direction he told me, and after passing three stone statues, I saw the young girl from before.

"Ooh, the kitty's back!" The girl annoyingly cheered. She carried a stuffed bear with various patches and buttons. "My name's Annie! What's yours?"

"My name is Lakra." I always liked kids, so I lightened up. "So, why are you here? This place is dangerous."

"No it's not, I play here all the time. Tibbers always saves me when I get in trouble, too." The girl showed me her stuffed animal. Now that I had a closer look on it, the seams were literally bursting with fluff. Either way, the girl was obviously attached to the bear.

The doll-like minions had caught up to us at this point, and some purple minions were revealing themselves from the darkness. Soon after, a frail looking woman and a crocodile also appeared from the fog.

"Quick, It's time to play!" The little girl jumped for joy. She immediately lit her hands on fire and started throwing fireballs at the purple minions. I was so caught up in the action that I forgot that I was left vulnerable, and I caught a blast of light in the gut.

"Oof! Well, apparently that rose has thorns." I said as I shot some claws at her as I shifted my spirit to teleport close to her… and hit myself in the back with the claws I shot milliseconds before. "GAH!"

"Well, aren't you an idiot. Those are some sharp claws," She said as she blasted me in the face with blinding light.

This is it. The end. I never even finished a battle. I'll never have my mother's roasted moose quarters ever again. I guess I'm drifting. In Limbo. Or I'm back at the fountain.

"Oh you're back." That yordle was still standing in the shack. "You were first blood. Gave Lux 450 gold. You didn't even get any gold from the minions. Based on the gold you have right now, I'd suggest buying Boots of Speed, a dagger, and 3 health potions."

"Um…" I was confused. "I guess I'll take those." He handed me everything he suggested. As I grabbed the items and put them on or in my bag, I felt power surge through me, like I was faster. I ran back through the fog and saw Annie.

"Ooh, this game's no fun if you make it hard to win." She sounded ticked. I immediately started to attack the minions rather than the champions based on what happened last time.

"I suggest you forfeit before you get hurt," The lady I assumed to be Lux shouted across the field. In anger I shot a blast of claws at her that hit her in the shoulder. For looking so dainty, she sure was cold-faced in the midst of extreme pain. Annie saw what I was doing and threw a large fireball at Lux to knock her on to her knees. The gator stepped in front of Lux to block off any more damage. The minions were apparently angry at me, as they swarmed around me and were attacking me. I felt really weak from the repeated strikes, even though individually they weren't powerful.

The gator took advantage of this fatigue and dashed toward me, the large blade swinging wildly. He pinned me to the ground and looked me dead in the eyes.  
"I'll do this quickly, as long as you scream." I stayed silent. "What's that, furball? Cat got your tongue?" He took his blade and carefully carved a line down my chest. It bled intensely. I screamed out of pain. Annie heard my cries and stopped attacking the minions. One could see the rage on her face.

"Leave. Kitty. ALONE!" She threw her stuffed bear at the gator, and the bear contorted into a large, fiery shadow bear, a violent creature that lives in the voodoo lands. It crashed into the croc and pushed him off of me, and stunned him from the impact. As he stood the woozy, I stood up, swallowed the pain, dashed at him and swiped him clear in the face. His blood soaked my claws, and I knew it was over. The croc got up and tried to run, but Annie had other plans. She chucked a monstrous fireball at him and knocked him down. At this point, he roared mightily, and grew twice his original size. He slashed at Annie, slicing various parts of her body. she screamed from the pain (or anger), and sprayed fire in his face while I shot him in the chest. Suddenly, he chose to bow out and run away, but not before Annie screamed, "DO IT! IGNITE!" and a small flame grew at the feet of the alligator. He sank back into the fog afterward.

About 3 seconds later, the voice in my head yelled, "ANNIE HAS SLAIN RENEKTON." Annie hopped about, obviously happy with her kill, and I ran up to her and hugged her.

"Alright! We did it!" I shouted. "Wait, have you seen Lux anywhere?"

"HNNGH… DEMACIA!"

DOUBLE KILL!


End file.
